Sunday, June 30, 2013

MPs' expenses: The Rule of Saint Nadine

From Brother Ivo:

Nadine Dorries is nothing if not an original member of Parliament; more Marmite than vanilla, and her colourful career has certainly taken an interesting turn with her decision to refuse to draw parliamentary expenses.

She will no doubt attract cynicism from her habitual detractors and not a little backbiting from those members of Parliament disinclined to follow her example. She has, however, added another provocation to her fellows by suggesting that our parliamentarians should follow the example of the Swedish Parliament and house themselves in state-owned appartment blocks in the vicinity of Westminster. She laments the lost opportunity of transforming the old County Hall for this purpose.

Brother Ivo recalls the late Alan Clark dismissing Michael Hesseltine as the kind of fellow who bought his own furniture. What he would have made of Mrs Dorries' Ikea youth hostel can only be imagined. An image was conjured up in Brother Ivo's mind - half Hogwarts; half Brian Rix farce. But then a more suitable model came to mind.

Why do we not go back to Parliament's Chapter House origins and thereby encourage a more reflective and sober approach in our legislators? Perhaps this is what Mrs Dorries has in mind .

To develop the idea further, Brother Ivo turned to the Rule of Saint Benedict which, though slim, is full of advice on how best to manage a community in order to foster a sense of earnestness and devotion, which is what the British public says it wants of its politicians.

The Saint is remarkably contemporary.

At the start of his Rule, Saint Benedict begins by dividing monks - as we might MPs - into four distinct and identifiable categories.

There are those who belong where they serve. Then those who have come through the test of longevity and passed beyond fervour and are 'ready, with God's help, to grapple singlehandedly with the vices of body and mind. Thirdly there are the 'most detestable kind...who, with no experience to guide them, no rule to guide them as gold is tried in a furnace, have a character as soft as lead... Their law is what they like to do whatever strikes their fancy'. Fourth and finally there are those 'who spend their entire lives staying as guests, drifting from region to region staying as guests for three or four days in different monasteries. Always on the move they never settle down and are slaves to their own appetites'.

For some strange reason the Michelin restaurants of Brussels came to Brother Ivo's mind as he typed that. Perhaps it is with the latter two categories in mind that much of what follows was written.

Brothers were to 'express themselves with all humility and not presume to defend their views with obstinacy'. We can all think of members of Parliament who might benefit from such advice, and John Bercow might appreciate the thought that 'so important is silence, that permission to speak should seldom be granted'.

To moderate excesses within this reformed House of Commons there is wise advice: 'We believe that half a bottle of wine is sufficient for each.' By way of contemporary update, Brother Ivo recalls that when the German Greens were first elected, they suggested that members should be breathalysed before entering the chamber on the basis that if one might not drive a Fiat 500 with alcohol in the system, perhaps one ought not to attempt to steer the Ship of State.

There is provision which might be usefully developed: 'If someone commits a fault whilst at work...(h)e must at once come before the Abbott and community and of his own accord, admit his fault and make satisfaction.' A positive duty for confession might be be a useful discipline for some of our more unruly legislators.

It would do no harm to remind our representatives that 'Idleness is the enemy of the soul' as they contemplate welfare reform. And, to preserve probity, an adaptation of the plainly-written rule - 'He must not presume to accept gifts even by his parents without telling the Abbott' - would avoid considerable doubt when dealing with lobbyists.

The more one studies this honourable text, the more incumbent it appears upon Mrs Dorries to develop a modern adaptation for the general improvement of parliamentary standards and decorum.

Of course one could not expect such a reformation to be attempted without being thoroughly trialled in advance. Brother Ivo's suggestion is that once she has completed her first draft, she approach the Prime Minister who has ring-fenced the Foreign Aid budget. He will surely embrace with enthusiasm the opportunity to offer, fully-formed, the new code for probity for testing by the recipients of significant UK Aid, by which Brother Ivo has in mind Kenyan members of Parliament who currently pay themselves more than US Senators.

34 Comments:

Well done Nadine: "I loathe the expenses system and believe it should be scrapped and MPs paid one flat-rate fee."

maybe it would tempt many of the current lot AWAY which can only help the country.

Brother Ivo writes: "It would do no harm to remind our representatives that 'Idleness is the enemy of the soul'

Pah! It would do no harm to remind our representatives that THEY ARE OUR REPRESENTATIVES not in any way greater, or more important, or better or some sort of leaders, just an elected representative to serve the people!

In my experience the public services of this country are remarkably free of corruption, of the kind that enriches individuals financially. I would include the elected representatives in Local Government in that category as well, for despite their many faults there are few, if any, brown envelopes changing hands, despite the tales told in pubs. That this is so, given the appalling example set for the people in The Mother of Parliaments is truly a testimony to the generally decent honest, character of the vast majority of the British public. This I believe is part of the Christian heritage of the country, but one wonders, as time passes, and faith recedes further and further into folk memory, with corruption at the top continuing despite exposure after exposure, just how long this habit of honesty will endure amongst the population ?Moreover how long will it be before the politicians find ways to prevent a prying press operating freely?

Community Service in America and Foreign Aid in Britain has become the the patch for morality. I am not really sure that many people really understand what virtue is or what character consists of. So they just talk about some form of community service, or Government budget allocation. Thus providing "evidence" of virtuous behavior. They then feel that this excuses them to some extent and so this patch means that whatever else they get up to they are behaving in a virtuous manner and acting with honour.

Standing against greed in their minds is not virtue but just leads inevitably to frustration and failure.

Self indulgence, whether sexual, alcoholic, financial or whatever is not a sin anymore, so patches of morality are required in ones life to provide the "evidence" when challenged on say on Question Time or the Today Programme that they are good people.

You hear it all the time. Yes yes someone says we behaved dishonorably or incorrectly in the area you just asked me about. But just look at these good things we do. Surely, they override the wrong we have done. And generally, we fall for it! The interviewer appears to anyway.

A somewhat astonished headline in the DT records that voters strongly approve of Osborne's welfare clamp down. Imagine the headlines if Cameron followed Brother Ivo's innovative suggestions and backed them up action. How about clearing the favellas of illegal immigrants too?

Ship 'em out to Sierra Leone where the cold won't bother them and finance the project with the Foreign Aid budget. We could appoint DanJO and his many friends as special projects officers there in view of his despicable comments about the Armed Forces.

Follow this communicant's recommendations and the path to power is assured. Go for it, UKIP.

"Thirdly there are the 'most detestable kind...who, with no experience to guide them, no rule to guide them as gold is tried in a furnace, have a character as soft as lead... Their law is what they like to do whatever strikes their fancy'"

Sounds like a well-know politician in this country...

I'm sure there's a scripture about being "ruled by boys" i.e. those with ideas but no wisdom, like some pimply youth who has just discovered politics...

I found the verse:"I will make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them." Isaiah 3:4

How long before the MP's inaugurate a bonus system for themselves? Sorry, they already have one: their very generous pension scheme. Oh, and I forgot the £10,000 a year salary increase they have been promised. Rough;y a 14% rise!

You would think that now that outer London MP's can no longer claim for a second home that there would be a shortage of applicants for the job of London MP's. Not on your Nelly. We have Millipede getting Joan Ryan a previous fiddler of expenses reselected for Enfield North after she was kicked out by the electorate. Do the good people of Enfield really have such a short memory.

But an LGBT activist is calling for double beds for gay MPs. Says it’s something to do with equality, probably. And access to gay porn too. And gay hot drink facilities. Again, for equality. And for gays to have a hand in the decor of the place. For diversity reasons, this time. And the place to be registered for homosexual weddings to take place. Otherwise full equality will never be achieved. And for gay cleaners. And a gay breakfast menu, and gay cutlery...

Fiercely heterosexual MPs have reacted angrily about the possibility of nocturnal gay activity taking place. “If any of the queer stuff happens, they are going to have their heads pushed down the lavatory and the thing flushed”. said one honourable homophobic thug. “And we’ll toast their behinds in the fire place too” suggesting that the beloved and world renowned English public school etiquette is alive and well in the twenty first century...

My boy, a cabinet minister who has always lived at home, insists I cut the crust off his breadFear not, madam. Your boy will want to eat the crust when he’s here, lest he appear gay in front of the others. For reasons I’d rather not go into.

The lad is a senior lib-dem. All he goes on about these days is same sex marriage, nothing elseIn no time at all, he will be regaling you with stories of rugger and cricket, lest he appear gay...

Here’s a catering tub of marmite. For his bread soldiers, you knowThank you dear lady. Cook will be delighted.

If he doesn’t get his own way he goes into a strop and threatens to resign the whipI’m putting your child down for boxing. A good healthy release for pent-up frustration

As well as being a massive disappointment to his mother and me, he loathes physical exerciseYes, he’s a porker alright. We do cross country, except for boys who say they are gay, they are excused.

He wets the bedHe’ll probably stop doing that. It’s a well known gay condition, and most boys do not want to appear gay in front of the others, for reasons. Well you know...

The basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2013 is £66,396. Many 'ordinary' people live on a fraction of this.

I would not regard that as excessive for what ought to be a very important job. However the job of an MP has been de-skilled to a great extent over the last 20 or 20 years. A high proportion of our laws are made in Brussels. Devolution has also reduced the powers of the Westminster parliament. The party whips tell MPs how to vote. When the MPs do respond to public opinion the European Court of "Human Rights" tries to over-rule them.

Given that the importance of an MP's job has been drastically reduced shouldn't there be a commensurate reduction in the salary? I would suggest a reduction of about 50%.

My lad's in the Royal Navy and during the last couple of years has been deployed to Iraq, Egypt, the Gulf and the Falklands - to say nothing of monitoring pirates off the East African coast. And he's paid less than underground train drivers who receive 'danger money'! But then, he's a 'professional' and not *really* fighting for freedom or to protect our way of life.

As for MP's and their salaries and expenses ... don't get me started. I agree with Len - reduce their pay by 50% and remove all the bonuses, perks, back-handers and so called *expenses*.

Why thank you, Sir. He was recently promoted to Petty Officer and is a fine, upstanding young man. His mother and I are very proud of him.

My daughter is a school teacher and, trust me, she wages a daily war against liberalism. In many ways it's as dangerous as my son's job. An 'enemy within' is as deadly, if not more so, as the more obvious hostile forces in this world of ours today.

About His Grace:

Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’ It is the fusion of the two in public life, and the necessity for a wider understanding of their complex symbiosis, which leads His Grace to write on these very sensitive issues.

Cranmer's Law:

"It hath been found by experience that no matter how decent, intelligent or thoughtful the reasoning of a conservative may be, as an argument with a liberal is advanced, the probability of being accused of ‘bigotry’, ‘hatred’ or ‘intolerance’ approaches 1 (100%).”

Follow His Grace on

The cost of His Grace's conviction:

His Grace's bottom line:

Freedom of speech must be tolerated, and everyone living in the United Kingdom must accept that they may be insulted about their own beliefs, or indeed be offended, and that is something which they must simply endure, not least because some suffer fates far worse. Comments on articles are therefore unmoderated, but do not necessarily reflect the views of Cranmer. Comments that are off-topic, gratuitously offensive, libelous, or otherwise irritating, may be summarily deleted. However, the fact that particular comments remain on any thread does not constitute their endorsement by Cranmer; it may simply be that he considers them to be intelligent and erudite contributions to religio-political discourse...or not.

The Anglican Communion has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961

British Conservatism's greatest:

The epithet of 'great' can be applied only to those who were defining leaders who successfully articulated and embodied the Conservatism of their age. They combined in their personal styles, priorities and policies, as Edmund Burke would say, 'a disposition to preserve' with an 'ability to improve'.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS.(Prime Minister 1979-1990)

We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC.(Prime Minister 1957-1963)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can).(Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am not struck so much by the diversity of testimony as by the many-sidedness of truth.Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC.(Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937)

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC.(Prime Minister 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield.(Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.Sir Robert Peel, Bt.(Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

I consider the right of election as a public trust, granted not for the benefit of the individual, but for the public good.Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.(Prime Minister 1812-1827)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)